Leviticus 25: 1 – 55
Looking for loopholes
25 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food. 8 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. 12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. 13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. 16 According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. 17 Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God. 18 ‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety. 20 ‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest. 23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. 24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. 25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. 29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession. 35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36 Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37 You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. 39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God. 44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor. 47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. 50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him. 51 If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52 And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. 53 He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him. 55 For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
The brilliant comedian and movie actor W. C. Fields led an unrestrained showbiz life displaying a fondness for alcohol and mistresses. He was not known as a religious man, but as his death approached he began to peruse the Bible. When a friend asked him about this behavior he humorously explained that he was: Looking for loopholes.
In another area we see this point of looking for loopholes brought out in sports. Trickery is part of football, from fake punts and flea flickers to disguised pass coverage and coded signals barked by quarterbacks. When such tactics bump up against the limits of NFL rules, the result is controversy — and sometimes new rules designed to close loopholes.
For example The New England Patriots have been noted for coming up with certain things that the rules never considered. Recently they came up with the use of players who are normally eligible pass receivers as decoy ineligible receivers to catch the Baltimore Ravens off guard in a playoff win. Though rare, the NFL said it was within the rules because the players reported to the referee as ineligible.
"Coaches are always pushing the envelope, and I get it," said Herm Edwards, ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back and coach. "It's one of those deals that is always evolving. But you've got to make sure that you don't give one side of the ball the advantage before the snap. You want everybody to be on the same page before the ball is snapped, so you've got a chance to compete."
After the Ravens-Patriots game, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh called it a "trick type of thing" and said he expected the league to review it.
New England coach Bill Belichick said it was a legitimate move under the rules — and the league agreed. "You're allowed to do that. We did it. I don't really understand what the question is," Belichick said.
Tricks aren't new, but the possibilities for deception are enhanced in this era of hurry-up, no-huddle, and spread offenses with lots of receivers.
Saying he didn't understand what the issue was, Belichick said, "You should talk to the NFL rules people and let them tell you about it."
The statement from Michael Signora, NFL spokesman: "Everything was legal from a formation and reporting standpoint." Rule 5, Section 3, Article 1 says, "An offensive player wearing the number of an eligible pass receiver is permitted to line up in the position of an ineligible pass receiver, provided that he immediately reports the change … to the referee, who will inform the defense team."
Last month, the New England Patriots signed a former wide receiver Gonzales to their roster. They gave Gonzalez a one-year deal worth $716,000 and a base salary of $701,000.
In so doing, the Patriots actually took advantage of three "loopholes"—two long-standing ones and one new one—in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association. The only question is whether taking advantage of those loopholes will ultimately benefit the Patriots.
"Loophole" No. 1: No Signing Bonus
When new player contracts are announced in the NFL, one of the first questions asked is "How much guaranteed money did he get?" After all, NFL salaries, unlike those in, say, baseball, are not guaranteed.
Thus, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Gonzalez's contract included no signing bonus at all. The only bonus was a $15,000 workout bonus. This is an indication that either Gonzalez was eager to come to New England
"Loophole" No. 2: Split Salary
Gonzalez, now in his sixth season in the league, has had a tough run of injury luck in recent seasons. In all, he's been on the 53-man roster for just 11 games since the end of the 2008-09 seasons and has just five receptions, all of them in the 2010 season. Thus, it's not surprising that the Patriots were concerned about the possibility that Gonzalez might not make it through the 2012 season and end up on injured reserve for a fourth season. Thus, Gonzalez's contract includes a "split salary."
For every week Gonzalez is on the 53-man roster, he'll receive about $41,000 in salary. If he ends up on injured reserve, though, his salary will drop to the minimum allowed by the league for injured players, about $21,000 per week.
"Loophole" No. 3: Paying Gonzalez an Extra $1,000
This may sound strange, but the last loophole employed by the Patriots was paying Gonzalez an extra $1,000 above the minimum salary allowed. Instead of a base salary of $700,000, the Patriots gave him a base salary of $701,000. That extra $1,000 could cost them in the short run but could save them in the long
This season, it could cost the Patriots an extra $161,000 in salary cap room. That's because Gonzalez's contract is not eligible for the Minimum Salary Benefit (found in Article 27 of the collective bargaining agreement). This provision—found in previous contracts—was designed to give teams an incentive to keep "fringe" veterans on the roster.
So, why am I specifically talking about loopholes? We will see in this chapter that our Holy Lord will give a time of rest to the land. So, looking for loopholes what do the Jews living in Israel do today to honor this requirement made by the Lord. Instead of giving the land rest as our Holy God stipulated, they get around this requirement by leasing their land to non Jews so they are in compliance with God’s law.
The prime principle in mind here in this chapter is that all the future also belongs to God. The seventh day Sabbath, the seven day feasts, the seven sevens feast, all stressed God’s control over their life and service over the whole year, with the number seven bringing out their sacredness and their glory, now we have here expressed the larger vision, the seven year Sabbath, and the seven sevens year of jubilee which express the same control over their life and service into the longer term, and the same divine perfection of what their future was intended to be.
In this chapter we are given provisions both for a sabbatical year for the land every seven years (compare Exodus 23.10-11), and a year of ‘jubilee’ (possibly ‘blowing of rams’ horns’ or ‘year of release’) after every seven sevens of years, that is every forty nine years, once the promised land was Israel’s. These were to make clear to Israel that the land was really Yahweh’s and those they were His tenants with their land ‘given’ by Yahweh. The whole of their lives should be lived in this light, and their practical behavior towards each other in terms of what He had given them determined by it.
The provisions were based on the ideal that Israel would conquer the land, expel its inhabitants and within a certain period control the whole land, which would then be divided up among them, each receiving his share. Each family would have received its share and that share was to be theirs permanently. No one could permanently take it away from them, because at the end of forty nine years it would always be restored to them.
The basis behind this was that the land belonged to Yahweh, that no one should build up vast amounts of land in perpetuity but His people would always share among themselves and that no Israelite should be permanently in bondage in the land. The land was His and after forty nine years there would be a year of Grand Release, of Jubilee, when all would revert to its original owner-tenants, and all Israelite bondmen would be freed. His people were all provided for in perpetuity, for each forty nine years all would be restored to what it was in the beginning. It was symbolic of the everlasting Kingdom.
The sevens would not cease, for at the end of each forty nine years they would commence again, just as after the Sabbath a new period of seven days began. It was tied to no calendar. It was directly in the hands of God. The future was secure. But it never came fully into being, according to Judges because of disobedience and failure to obey God and trust in Him, and once the monarchy took hold and began to behave like the monarchies of other nations it was even more unlikely to continue to be carried through because man and greed took over. Man seized what was God’s. But it was intended to be the godly principle behind Israel’s existence, His whole people going forward together as one.
Later writers (e.g. Judges) make clear that due to disobedience the ideal situation never arose as first envisaged. Due to disobedience the land never quite belonged to Israel in the way anticipated. But that is not to say that no attempt was made to carry out these provisions. The sabbatical year could be applied from the start as each sub-tribe received its land and divided it up, and may well have been so. And the year of Jubilee, while more difficult, may well have been practiced in many areas. The latter required an idealistic and optimistic environment in which to be welcomed, and settled conditions under benevolent authority for it to be carried out.
The very conception of this on a nationwide scale fits well to its being promulgated at this time of optimism and expectation, when such a situation could be envisaged, but with the right conditions never being fully achieved, or possibly only achieved in the early unrecorded years in the parts then in subjection. There is therefore no real reason to doubt that the idea was conveyed through Moses. It was certainly a grand idea, a basis for God’s final future deliverance.
That it finally failed comes out in the laments of the prophets, but in their laments we see a reflection of the ideas behind it of a divine ideal which men had finally rejected. That the idea was not carried through as it was intended to be carried through was the consequence of disobedience and failure by men Israel to carry through God’s commands. But it conveyed ideas and attitudes about the land and about relationships as regards to debts, that were intended to influence general behavior and which could be put into practice, and which we should still consider today. It concerned the maintenance of fairness for all.
The very purpose of jubilee would to curb the ambitions of those who looked to the long term and were greedy, and its principle would have an influence for good on men’s minds. And it may well have affected prices of redemption to the good both for property and people. It also clearly indicated to future generations what the nation had missed out on due to sin. It was a pointer to the ideal future that could have been theirs, and, at least theoretically, still could be.
25 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.
He was to inform the children of Israel that not only must they keep Sabbath every seventh day, but the land must keep Sabbath as well every seventh year. Once they had entered the land and it had been distributed to them as their gift from Him, they were to observe a Sabbath rest for the land after every period of six years, a period again in which they did no labor.
3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
For six years things were to go on as normal. They were to sow and prune and gather. The land was theirs to do what they liked with. They must work to make the most of it.
4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
When the seventh year came all was to cease. The land must be allowed to rest. They must cease from work. They must neither sow nor prune. It was to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, and for them. It would be a year in which their thoughts could be turned on to covenant matters, and to doing well. It was a period when God and His ways were to be central in their thoughts. It was to be their Sabbatical.
5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
They must not gather in an organized way what grows of itself, neither reaping, nor gathering grapes and fruit. They must treat the land as if it was not theirs. What grew on the land should be seen as God’s and would be open to anyone to collect. The ‘landowner’ would in that year simply have the same rights as everyone else. It was a time for sharing all that they had.
6 And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,
So what grew on the land in that seventh year would be for everyone who went out to collect it for themselves. There were to be no organized labor parties, no work on the land organized by the owner. Anyone could go individually and collect what he was able. All could live off what the land naturally produced under God.
7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
The produce of the land was also to be left to the cattle and to beasts. They too were to be able to enter the land and eat what they would.
8 ‘And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
The principle was that after seven consecutive sabbatical years (each ending a seven year period) there would come the ‘fiftieth’ year which should be the year of Jubilee, the year of grand release.
9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.
And on the Day of Atonement of that forty ninth year the rams’ horn (shophar) should sound throughout the land and the year of grand release would begin. The forty ninth year would already be a sabbatical year, and therefore a year of solemn thought, thus the solemn Day of Atonement was a good day for commencing the activities of the year of grand release. First Israel could rid itself of its burden of sin, and then it could set about remedying the commercial and agricultural situation for all ‘true-born’ Israelites. All would be restored to the visualized perfect beginning once the land was subjugated and divided among all Israel.
10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
It was to be a hallowed year, a year set apart to the glory of Yahweh, a year when Israelite bondservants would gain their release, and all agricultural land and village property would revert to its original owners.
11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
It was to be like the sabbatical years in that the land was to be left fallow, and in it no sowing, reaping or organized gathering of grapes was to take place. Instead all that was in the fields and the vineyards would be open for anyone who wanted it. all could gather to their hearts content, for the produce that year was Yahweh’s.
12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
It was a year of grand release of one form or another, with the releasing of property, bondmen and debts and a period when men reverted to living off the land without labor. It was to be very special to them.
13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.
Repeating the contents of verse 10 in true ancient fashion he repeats that in that year of Jubilee every man was to return to his possession, that is would again receive the land originally given to him and his family once the conquest had taken place, the principle behind this being that that family could never totally lose its inheritance whatever went on during the fifty year period. A black sheep in the family could not permanently lose the family its inheritance. In the end it would always revert to them. This repetition then leads on to an expansion to explain the idea more fully.
14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. 16 According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
Those who bought or sold property were to take this situation into account. They must not wrong one another. The purchase/sale price must always take into account the time left to the year of Jubilee. It must be based on the amount and number of crops which were likely to be produced from the land between the purchase/sale date and the year of Jubilee.
17 Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
To wrong one another would be against the whole principle of what God was laying down. Its purpose was for the good of all and to prevent excessive greed. In all dealings in these matters they were therefore to fear God, remembering that He Is Yahweh, and therefore act in accordance with all the principles that He had laid down, remembering that they were accountable to Him..
18 ‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
For this was His promise. They were to do His statutes and keep His ordinances as laid down through Moses, and He in His turn would ensure that the land yielded its fruit, and that they could eat their fill. And it is doubly stressed that if they did these things they would dwell in safety.
What does the year of Jubilee mean to us? It is a concept. It reminds us that God’s purposes go forward to a specific goal, a time when all will be restored and all God’s people will receive the blessings that God has for them, when all will be put right. Whatever the future holds we need not fear, for one day will come the glorious year of Jubilee, the year of restoration, the year of liberty. Daniel describes it in Daniel 9.24. It is a reminder of our glorious heavenly future, a future of permanence of blessing that nothing can take away.
20 ‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.
The first question we must raise here is as to the reference of the amount of 3 years wait. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 we read, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He Is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”.
The need for three years was because while activity on the land would take place in the last months of the sixth year for growth during the sabbatical year, there would be no organized reaping to follow in the first part of the seventh year, and no sowing was to take place within the last part of the sabbatical year, the seventh year, because it was forbidden. Thus the first sowing would be in the eighth year (the last part of the first year in the new series) which would produce growth in the ninth year. This confirms that at this time the year began in the spring (Exodus 12.2).
So the question was, would the observance of the sabbatical year mean that in the seventh year, and in each succeeding seventh year, they would have to go short? No, God assured them, as he had multiplied the Manna on the sixth day so would He multiply His provision so that it covered the years when there was no organized production. As He had already given them evidence with the Manna that He was able to do a similar thing, they had no reason to be afraid.
22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
Thus in the seventh and the eighth years they would eat ‘the old store’, that which had been laid up in the sixth year.
23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
The principle is now made clear. The reason that all this was to happen was because the land was Yahweh’s. From this point of view they lived in it, not as owners, but as though they were resident aliens and visitors. That is why it could not be sold in perpetuity. All the land was His. They therefore had no right to sell it, only its use for a number of years.
24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
Furthermore this meant that they must be willing to guarantee redemption rights to those who through misfortune had been forced to sell the use of their property. This was to apply wherever His people lived in the land.
25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
When a man became poor and had to sell his land in order to survive, it was incumbent on his nearest male relative to buy the land back as soon as possible, and the purchaser could not refuse to sell. We call this man ‘the Kinsman Redeemer’.
26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.
Should a man have no near kinsman wealthy enough to act for him, if he himself later became wealthy later he would still retain the right to buy back his land, giving compensation depending on the number of years still to go to the year of Jubilee. So the right of a family to its own original land was very strong, and if one section of a family died out the right passed to the nearest relatives (Jeremiah 32.7-8). But the land must remain in the family.
28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.
Should he find himself in a position that he has no Kinsman Redeemer, and of not himself gaining sufficient wealth, then he would have to wait until the year of Jubilee, but at the year of Jubilee the land passed back to him anyway, and he could take possession of it, the buyer meanwhile having retained the use of it up to this date. Thus all were dealt with fairly.
The principle from all this for us is the concern that we should have that we share our good things with others. Our aim should not be to grab as much as we can for ourselves but to ensure that all share the good things of life, and that we do not claim for ourselves more than a reasonable proportion.
29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.
If a man sold a house in a walled city the situation was different. He was given one year in which to redeem it. This was because this was a property built or bought by choice in a city which was for defensive purposes. It was not connected with his inheritance given to him by Yahweh.
Yahweh did not see walled cities as necessary in His inheritance. When the ideal time came Israel would be known as ‘a land of un-walled villages’ and would be secure from even the most devastating of enemies (Ezekiel 38.11) because they would be trusting in Yahweh. And houses in un-walled towns would probably have land connected with them.
30 but if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
If the house sold through necessity in the city was not redeemed within a full year then it belonged to the purchaser in perpetuity. But houses in un-walled towns were seen as part of the agricultural and pasture land around the towns and could be redeemed along with the land, and returned to the original owner in the year of Jubilee.
32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
In the cities of the Levites (including the priests) the houses were given to them by God as a possession. They had no fields which were their personal possession. Thus their houses were treated as their inheritance in the land and were permanently redeemable or returned to the original owner in the year of Jubilee.
33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
The important point is that each property in a Levite city returned in the year of Jubilee (‘goes out’) to its original Levite owner, and the whole city therefore returned to its combined Levite owners, because being Levites this was their permanent possession in the land.
34 But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
However, Levite fields surrounding the city could not be sold. They belonged to the Levites as a whole. They were their permanent possession.
35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
If a fellow-Israelite grew poor and failed financially among them for one reason or another, he was to be ‘upheld’. He must be shown the same loving concern as a resident alien or foreigner, whom the laws of hospitality required should be welcomed. He must not be downgraded and made to feel a failure. He must be given opportunities to work and to earn a living.
36 Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37 You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.
If money was lent to him, as it should be if he needed it (Deuteronomy 15.8), then interest must not be charged. The loan must not be reduced in any way. And in fact at the end of the seven years relief period described in Deuteronomy 15.1-2, the loan was to be written off (Deuteronomy 15.2). If food and other supplies were given to him no profit must be made out of them. No additional charge must be made. They must fear their God, the great Deliverer Who stooped to deliver them all from hardship in Egypt when they were all failing financially, and give the fellow-Israelite every opportunity for a recovery.
38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
The reason why they should behave in this way was because they recognized that what they were doing they did under the eye of Yahweh their God, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt with the purpose of giving them the land of Canaan. He would not be charging them interest or gaining any profit out of them. He was revealing His love and compassion towards them. Thus they must do the same for their fellow-Israelites in accordance with His covenant.
39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
In days when there was no state aid a man could through bad luck, illness, or violence and easily find that he had to sell his land, and after a time be left with little money to keep his family alive. He could reach such a stage that his only option was to sell himself as a bondservant so as to provide for his wife and children. If that happened to a fellow-Israelite he was not to be treated as a bondservant. He should simply be taken into service.
40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
For he should be treated in the same way as a hired-servant or a resident alien, as a free man while enjoying the security enjoyed by a bondservant, until at the year of Jubilee he would receive back his land.
41 And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.
Once the year of Jubilee came he would be free to go back to his land, once more totally free, together with his wife and children, (the wife as ever always assumed as part of himself).
The same principle applies between Christians. We should treat fellow-Christians well, whether we employ them, or are responsible for them, remembering that they are our brothers and God’s men. But they too should not take advantage of the situation. Responsibility lies on both sides.
42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
The reason that fellow-Israelites should not be treated as bondservants was that they were of those whom Yahweh had delivered from bondage. He had brought them from the land of Egypt. He had declared them free; therefore they could never again be put in bondage while the covenant remained firm.
43 You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.
Thus their Israelite masters were not to treat them roughly or severely as they had all been treated in Egypt, but as fellow members of the covenant, because as masters they feared God.
Foreign bondservants were necessarily in a different position for they had no hope of a future restoration of land. It may be asked why foreign bondservants were allowed at all. The answer is because of demand by the foreign bondservants. They came to Israel poor, hungry and with nothing, seeking and begging for a permanent position. They bound themselves to work for the keep of themselves and their families. They did not want to be hired servants who could be taken on and fired. They wanted permanent security, and they received that in bond service. Had there been no provision for this they would simply have gone away empty and hungry, and starved. The Law was practical.
44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
Permission was given for Israelites to buy bondservants of the nations who were to be round about them. But they were to love them as they loved themselves (19.34). They were to protect their interests (19.20-22). But the standard of their lives would in the end not depend on the law but on the kindness or otherwise of their masters.
45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.
Again they could ‘buy’ bondservants of resident foreigners living among them, that is enter into a contract with them of permanent service in return for permanent shelter and keep for them and their families. And they would belong to them to be treated with all the care shown for valuable assets. We should remember that life was in fact hard for all. Survival was a struggle for all.
46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
These bondmen and bondwomen became a permanent part of the ‘household’ and would therefore continue on from father to son. They were there in perpetuity. They had nowhere else to go. But this was never to be true of ‘Israelites’ within the covenant. They were to be treated in a much more ‘brotherly fashion’, remembering that at the year of Jubilee they would return to their own land.
47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.
There was here recognition that foreigners and resident aliens and their families in Israel might grow rich. They might even grow so rich that they took poor Israelites as bondmen. But it was always open for the bonds of those bondmen to be redeemed at any time. It could be by a relative, a near kinsman, or even by themselves. Even a bondman could grow rich. But whatever happened he became free in the year of Jubilee.
50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him.
The price to be paid for his freedom took into account the number of years to nubile, just as the price he had received had taken it into account. For in the end he was with him as a hired servant, not as a permanent bondman, and must be treated as such.
51 If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52 And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.
The prices of sale and redemption of bonds could be high or low depending on the number of years to jubilee. If the bond was for many years’ service the price could be high, if only for a few the price could be low.
53 He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.
In any case the Israelite must be treated like a servant hired year by year, not as a bondman. He was not to be treated harshly.
54 And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him.
Whatever happened he and his family went free in the year of Jubilee.
55 For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Again the basis behind all this was that the people of His covenant, ‘the children of Israel’, were His servants. He Was their Master. Thus all other relationships were subject to that. And He, as Yahweh their God, had delivered them from the land of Egypt. He Was the One Who was there with them and held the future in His hands.
We are reminded in all this that we too have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6.19) by One Who Is our brother and Redeemer. He has paid a great price, for ‘you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold -- but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1.18-19). He gave Himself a redemption price on behalf of many (Mark 10.45). And through Him we are in bondage no longer. Amen!
